A federal probe into the city-subsidized construction of a Tallahassee restaurant is threatening to complicate the Mayor Andrew Gillum's campaign for governor.

  • Feds probing Tallahassee restaurant with city-subsidized construction
  • It's run by a political operative linked to Mayor Andrew Gillum
  • Gillum is now running for Florida governor
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That's because the restaurant is run by a former political operative linked to Gillum.

The FBI, in concert with the U.S. attorney's office in Tallahassee, has issued subpoenas seeking records from the city's Community Redevelopment Agency. The agency contributed more than $2 million in taxpayer funds to transform a derelict city-owned power station into a restaurant. A 20-year lease was ultimately awarded to a team of developers including Adam Corey, the treasurer for Gillum's mayoral campaign.

The restaurant, The Edison, has been described by critics as offering some of "the best subsidized steaks in Florida." A member of the Tallahassee City Commission since 2003, Gillum now holds a seat on the redevelopment agency's board of directors.

In a statement released Friday, Gillum wrote that "last week the FBI approached me about several people and businesses here in Tallahassee. I spoke with them, and told them they could expect both the city and my personal cooperation with their investigation. They assured me I was not the focus of an investigation, and that they would be moving quickly with their work."

The 37-year-old mayor entered the Democratic gubernatorial primary this spring, quickly working to carve out a niche as the only true progressive in the race. On the back of a pledge to lift up struggling Floridians by creating job opportunities for "every rung on the income ladder," Gillum has already raised in excess of $1 million.

But he's also been dogged by questions about his leadership of Florida's capital city. In addition to the controversy surrounding The Edison, Gillum is being investigated by the Leon County Sheriff's Office regarding his purchase, on behalf of the city, of an e-mail software platform designed by a Democratic political firm.

"I think people have been fooled once by a fake email scandal, and they're not going to be fooled again," Gillum told the Capital Tiger Bay Club last month. "But, that won't stop people from making an issue of it, and as they make issue of it, I want you to know that we're going to continue to move forward and focus on the issues that I think really do matter in this campaign."

Political observers say the probes are at best distracting from Gillum's message. Coming so soon after the e-mail scandal that helped doom Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, however, Democratic voters could be especially sensitive to the challenges facing the mayor.

"That would be the goal, to avoid anything that has to do with the FBI and e-mails, and as opponents will do, they will bring that up," Tallahassee political consultant Trimmel Gomes said, referring to Gillum's rivals for the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial nomination. "This is going to be made for campaign fodder and campaign ads over and over again."

A grand jury is slated to meet next month to review the records related to the subpoenas.